Nov. 25, 2008
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -
Philadelphia, PA., Nov. 25, 2008 - Penn State passed its first road test of the season with ease Tuesday in Philadelphia as the Nittany Lions burst out of the gate playing one of their best halves in recent memory and then coasted to an 85-73 victory over Penn at the Palestra.
The Nittany Lions were smoking from three dropping 7-of-10 and shooting 51 percent from the floor in the first half as they ran around, past and over the Quakers on their way to a 49-24 halftime lead. Penn State's guard tandem of senior guard Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) continued their sensational play going for 25 and 24 points, respectively and hitting 8-of-15 from three. Pringle added a career high seven assists to go with his career high point total. Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio) asserted himself in the paint coming just shy of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds despite a rough 6-of-15 shooting night.
Penn, which dropped to 1-3, was led by 17 points from Jack Eggleston and 16 from Harrison Gaines, but leading scorer Tyler Bernardini, who was averaging over 20 coming in, was held to just eight by an impressive defensive effort spearheaded by David Jackson (Farrell, Pa.).
Pringle was phenomenal in the first 20 minutes as he and Battle used their speed and quickness to slice through the Quakers match-up zone and create open looks with drives and kicks and pushing the ball in transition. Pringle shot a blistering 7-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-5 from three for 18 first half points and added six assists and two steals in the opening stanza. Meanwhile, Battle added 10 points and four first half boards as Penn State sprinted to an early margin.
"That was about the best offensive half of basketball I think we have ever played," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "We shot the heck out of the basketball and really passed crisply and played with a lot of energy and bounce."
The Nittany Lions quickly jumped to a 7-0 lead behind five early points from Pringle and forced a Penn timeout just 1:30 in. That didn't stem the flow as Battle hit a three out of the timeout and then drove for a lay-up on the following possession. When Jackson found Cornley for a lay-up at the 16-minute mark Penn State lead 14-4 and was on its way.
Following several rushed shots from Cornley and Andrew Jones that failed to find their mark after Penn State diced up the Penn zone with excellent passing, Pringle hit a deep three for a 17-4 lead. The Lions eventually built the margin to 18 following a Pringle jumper and a Jeff Brooks free throw and led 22-4 with 11:12 remaining in the half. The Nittany Lion defense took Bernardini out of the action and held Penn scoreless for six minutes.
A pair of buckets from Eggleston got Penn back to within 14, but Penn State responded with a 7-0 run started by a Danny Morrissey three. A Pringle rebound and coast-to-coast lay-up and a Brooks jumper put the Lions up by 21 with 7:55 to play.
The Lions held the margin around 20 the rest of the half building it to 25 on their final possession as Battle took a pass from Pringle and drained a three.
Feeling the inevitability of victory, Penn State lacked some crispness in the second half and Penn mounted a run. Trailing by 21 with 9:57 to play, the Quaker would outscore the Lions 17-6 over the next six minutes getting threes from Kevin Egee, Eggleston and Bernardini to cut the lead to 10, 71-61, with 3:28 to play. After struggling to a 1-of-10 showing from the arc in the first half, Penn found the range in the second and made 7-of-13 on their way to 49 second-half points to give the Lions a scare.
Penn State restored order scoring the next five points on three free throws from Battle and a Jackson jumper to push the lead to 15, 76-61, with 2:03 to play. It was a parade to the free throw line from there as Penn fouled to stop the clock and tried to cut the lead with threes on the other end. They never go the lead below 12 as Battle made eight of his 11 free throws in the final 2:03 of action.
Penn State will return to the Palestra on Friday as they take on Rhode Island at 6:30 p.m. in their third game of the Philly Hoop Group Classic. The Lions defeated NJIT (74-47) and Hartford (89-64) at home in their first two games of the Classic. The winner of Friday's game will face the winner of Friday's second match-up between Villanova and Towson, on Saturday at the Palestra.